Firefighters from both the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles County Fire Department worked together to save a commercial building from destruction today in South Los Angeles.

At 1:57PM on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire in the 6500 block of S Crenshaw Blvd.  First arriving units found a split level, combined use (residential over commercial) building with heavy fire showing from the second floor.  

As firefighters readied the hose lines, Officers made a 'lap' around the structure and found an additional building with fire and a third being exposed, thus risking involvement. Despite a quick, aggressive and simuletaneous interior and roof operation, the unsafe conditions forced the move to a defensive operation.  While the truck crews prepared the ladder pipe to deliver heavy water streams, additional firefighters ascended the roof of the neighboring building at risk to defend it against the flames.  For over 90 minutes, massive amounts of water rained down on the flames and knocked them back significantly.   

After evaluating the building for stability and safety, Assistant Chief Ronnie Villanueva, as part of a Unified Command with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, made the decision to return the 90 firefighters to an offensive operation.  They made their way back inside the building to root out any hotspots and ensure a total knockdown.  The seamless coordination between firefighters from both departments is to credit for saving the exposed building from any significant damage.   

LAFD Arson is investigating the cause while the dollar loss is being tabulated.

Units dispatched:E294 T94 E57 E34 RA34 RA834 E233 T33 BC13 E46 E295 E95 T95 E215 T15 CM22 EM1 BC1 E5 T5 E205 UR5 RA5 HR56 UR88 BC4 BC18 CM32 EA1 HU89 E221 T21 RA246 RA94 E35 E4 E264 T64 EM4 EM9 SQ21 AR1 HU59 PH1 AR21 AR30